Corfu

Settlers from Corinth founded Korkyra, probably around 730 BC, on the peninsula south of the present town, where the ruins of its temples now lie in the grounds of Mon Repos. Placed on the route between Greece and southern Italy, it grew into one of the three great naval powers of 5th-century Greece, and its quarrel with Corinth over Epidamnus in 435 BC, and its alliance with Athens, were among the immediate causes of the Peloponnesian War. Rome and then Byzantium followed, and the medieval town grew on the twin-peaked promontory that the Old Fortress now covers.

From 1386 to 1797 Corfu belonged to Venice. Its fortifications withstood Ottoman sieges in 1537, 1571, 1573 and 1716, and the tall houses and narrow lanes of the old town date from this era; many Italian Jews also found refuge here. French rule followed, and in 1807 the commissioner Mathieu de Lesseps built the Liston. From 1815 Corfu was the capital of a British protectorate, the United States of the Ionian Islands; the Palace of St Michael and St George was built for its Lord High Commissioner in 1819–24. Britain ceded the islands to Greece under the Treaty of London in 1864. Empress Elisabeth of Austria built her summer palace, the Achilleion, in 1889, and Prince Philip was born at Mon Repos in 1921.

Italy occupied the island in the Second World War; after Italy's surrender the Luftwaffe bombed Corfu on 14 September 1943. In June 1944 the Gestapo rounded up the city's Jews, held them in the Old Fortress and sent them to Auschwitz, where most were murdered; about 200 escaped with the help of local people. The old town was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2007.

Corfu's identity is Venetian and Ionian as much as Greek. Many Italian and Venetian words are still common in local speech, and the town has a Catholic community alongside the Orthodox majority. Saint Spyridon, whose relics lie in a silver reliquary in his church, is the island's patron, and his processions are major events.

Music is the town's pride. The Philharmonic Society of Corfu is part of the town's long tradition in the fine arts, and its museum tells the story of the island's musical heritage. The bands march in the processions of Easter, which Orthodox and Catholics have celebrated together since Venetian times: on Holy Saturday morning residents throw clay pots from their balconies to smash in the streets below.

The British left a quirkier legacy. Corfu is the only place in Greece where cricket is popular; the Hellenic Cricket Federation is based here, the only Greek sports federation outside Athens, and matches are played on the Spianada. Ginger beer, tzitzibira, is still drunk on the Liston. Gerald Durrell wrote three books about his 1935–1940 childhood on the island, and the Ionian University keeps a student population in town all year.

The city of Corfu had 23,541 people at the 2021 census, and the whole island about 99,000. The town is the capital of the Corfu regional unit and of the Ionian Islands region, and since 2019 the seat of the municipality of Central Corfu and Diapontian Islands. Kanali, Potamos, Alepou and Kontokali are among the larger suburbs around it.

Tourism is the backbone of the economy, from package holidays in the island's resorts to day visitors in the old town. The administration, the port and the Ionian University provide year-round work, and olive oil, produced since antiquity, remains the island's traditional crop.

The rhythm is seasonal: a long, busy summer when families work hard in hotels, restaurants and boat hire, and a quieter, rainy winter when the town belongs to its residents. Evenings centre on the Spianada and the Liston, where people walk, meet and sit over coffee, and the saint's processions bring the philharmonic bands into the streets.

Venice shaped Corfu's kitchen. Pastitsada, the traditional Sunday dinner, is veal, beef or poultry braised in a spiced tomato sauce with cinnamon, cloves, wine and garlic and served over pasta, topped with grated cheese; its name comes from the Venetian pastizzada. Sofrito, a veal dish, is another island speciality, and bourdeto, from the Venetian brodetto, is fish — ideally scorpion fish — cooked with onion and sweet and hot red pepper.

Sweets and drinks carry the island's history. Mandola, caramelised almonds, and mandolato are Corfiot treats. Kumquats, grown on the island, are made into spoon sweets and liqueurs, and tzitzibira, ginger beer, is a legacy of British rule that the locals adopted with enthusiasm. The island is also known for its olive oil and local wines.

The old town's tavernas and the cafés of the Liston are the places to try these classics, and the island's olive groves supply its oil.